San
Joaquin County
Biographies
CHARLES A. RUSSELL
A native son and lifelong resident
of San Joaquin County, California, Charles A. Russell has a fine estate of 110
acres four miles south of Stockton on the Tracy Road. He is the eldest son of C. C. and Julia
(Bush) Russell and was born at Knights Ferry, July 20, 1865. The parents were natives of Kentucky and
Massachusetts, respectively. The father, C. C. Russell, was born in 1830, and while still a
young man settled in the vicinity of Cairo, Illinois, and was a charter member
of the I. O. O. F. lodge at that place.
The mother’s family migrated west to Illinois from Massachusetts in
1846. Early in 1849 the Russell family
started across the plains for California, but on account of illness they were
forced to stay in Missouri and so did not reach California until 1852. The father mined for three years, then moved
to Galt where he engaged in farming, having as his partner a Mr. Harvey, and
among the historical landmarks of the Galt section is what is known at the Russell
and Harvey pocket. In 1869 the family
removed to Copperopolis and was principally occupied with stock raising until 1876 when they moved to Farmington and there
conducted a hotel until 1885. C. C.
Russell then disposed of his hotel business and began ranching near Farmington
where he remained until his death in 1904, the mother passing away on April 18,
1908. The father was a staunch
Democrat. He had two brothers who served
in the Union Army during the Civil War and one brother who served on the
Confederate side.
The education of Charles A. Russell
was begun at the Farmington school and finished with a business course in
Stockton. On April 16, 1885, occurred
his marriage to Miss Sarah E. Smalling, a native of
San Joaquin County, daughter of Isaac G. Smalling,
prominent cattle man of this section.
Two children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Russell. Charles C. married
Miss Mina Biochenberger of Lodi, and they have two
children, Eva and Harold. He is an
expert electrician and mechanic and graduated from the State Mechanical
Department at Santa Barbara and is at present engaged as a teacher in manual
arts at the high school at Yuba. The younger of the Russell family is Myrna A. Russell. In 1892 Mr. Russell located at Stockton and
followed building contracting for five years, then engaged in farming. In 1905 he purchased thirty acres on which he
erected a residence and since that time has bought eighty acres more, which he has
developed into a rich productive ranch, constituting one of the good farms of
the neighborhood. He also owns desirable
real estate at Stockton and Fresno.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1000. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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